MickeyArthur

Speaker Profile

John Michael 'Mickey' Arthur was coach of the South African National Cricket Team from 2005 to 2010 and the Australian cricket team from 2011 to 2013. Born in Johannesburg, Gauteng, Mickey played for both Griqualand West ('86/'87 to '89/'90 and '95/'96) and Orange Free State ('90/91 to '94/'95) as a right-handed batsman.

Mickey was the type of player who commanded universal respect through his dedication, demonstrating the attributes that would make him a great coach from early in his career. Scoring a total of 6,557 runs playing for Free State, Griqualand West and South Africa before hanging up his boots in 2001, he commenced his coaching career with Griquas in the South African domestic competition before taking over the Eastern Cape side in 2003. In his last two series as coach Mickey guided the team to the finals of the Standard Bank Pro 20 Series. He was selected as coach of the South African National Cricket team in May 2005, succeeding Ray Jennings.

His introduction to international cricket was tough, with his first two Test series as coach against a rampant Australian team, both away and at home, during which South Africa was easily beaten. An injured South African side failed to make the finals of the 2005-06 VB Series, but they did clinch a tense one-day series win over Australia at home, which culminated in an iconic match at Johannesburg which has been named by many media commentators the greatest One Day International ever played, breaking a number of cricket records, including both the first and the second team innings score of over 400 runs.

A home win over New Zealand was followed up by a disastrous tour of Sri Lanka in the summer of 2006, where South Africa lost both tests and pulled out of a tri-series after a bomb exploded in Colombo. Successes then flowed with back-to-back Test and one-day series victories against India and Pakistan at home which propelled South Africa to the top of the One Day International rankings. This was a major boost prior to the 2007 World Cup in which South Africa had a roller coaster ride that included dominant wins over England, West Indies, Ireland, Netherlands and Scotland, a narrow win over Sri Lanka, and losses to Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh which cost them the number one ranking.

The two years that followed would be the best in South Africa's test history. Starting with two home series win in South Africa against Pakistan and India, Mickey led the team through a series of nine unbeaten test series and a number of good One Day International results. This streak included wins against India, Pakistan, West Indies, New Zealand and Bangladesh at home and away wins against England, Pakistan, Bangladesh and a credible draw in India.

In 2008 Mickey became the first South African coach to guide his team to a test win in Australia, backing up this performance by winning the resulting One Day International series against the odds. This unexpected 4-1 win meant that they regained the number one ranking in the One Day International rankings.

After leaving his role of Coach of South Arica in January 2010, Mickey took over as Head Coach of the WA State men's team, the Western Warriors in May 2010. After only 18 months in the role he was appointed National Coach of the Australian cricket team in November 2011, one of the most prestigious positions in world cricket. He coached the Australian cricket team until June 2013.

An experienced public and corporate speaker throughout the world, Mickey's audiences range from aspiring and elite cricketers and other athletes to executives, senior management and boards. At home in an intimate board room setting or speaking to large audiences at a conference, corporate lunch, breakfast or dinner, Mickey delivers presentations on a range of topics including how to motivate teams and individuals, how to build a high performance culture in both sporting and corporate environments, how to inspire personal development and achieve goals and how to overcome adversity, all accompanied by a good dose of cricket anecdotes from his playing and coaching days.

Client Comments for Mickey Arthur

Very good speaker. Mickey's presentation was specifically tailored to our audience and was really well received by all in attendance. We received many positive comments afterwards.

Client Comments

Client Comments

Mickey's after dinner speech was very interesting and there were many parallels between his coaching life and our roles as senior executives. In addition he was very entertaining, engaging and some light heartedness sprinkled throughout to make the speech wonderful. Many people made extremely positive remarks to me at the end of the night on how much Mickey enhanced the WA Police Commissioned Officers' Mess Dinner.WA Police

Very good speaker. Mickey's presentation was specifically tailored to our audience and was really well received by all in attendance. We received many positive comments afterwards.Australian Customs & Border Protection Service

Topics

Speaker Topics

Building a High Performance Culture: In both sporting and corporate environments

"I dream of a company where people come to work every day in a rush to try something they woke up thinking about the night before. We want them to go home from work wanting to talk about what they did that day, rather than trying to forget it. We want factories where the whistle blows and everybody wonders where the time went, and then somebody suddenly wonders aloud why we need a whistle. We want a company where people find a better way, everyday, of doing things, and where by shaping their own work experience, they make their lives better and their company the best."Jack Welch, CEO, General Electric.